The present invention relates to vehicle controls. More specifically, the present invention relates to a method and apparatus of transferring information to a vehicle, via a wireless communication system, to provide data to the vehicle controls.
In today""s competitive automotive market, there is increasing pressure to reduce costs and provide value for consumers. Vehicle production numbers for a particular automotive manufacturer may easily reach into the millions. A reduction in manufacturing costs of a few cents or dollars per vehicle can lead to savings of a few thousand to millions of dollars for an automotive manufacturer. Accordingly, there are large incentives to reduce the number of or remove even the most inexpensive components in a vehicle.
Presently, automotive companies integrate numerous sensors into a vehicle control system to control the climate of the vehicle, modify engine control parameters, or other similar functions. For example, a humidity sensor or barometric pressure sensor can be used to improve the performance of various powertrain control systems such as spark control, air fuel ratio, exhaust gas recirculation, etc. These sensors add significant cost to the assembly of a vehicle.
The development of wireless telecommunications has enabled the provision of mobile application services to vehicles by mobile application service providers such as GM OnStar(copyright). Such services include providing call-in service for a global positioning system, automatic notification of supplemental inflatable restraint activation, activation with dispatch of emergency services, etc. The present invention utilizes wireless telecommunications to transfer data or process variables to a vehicle to be used by vehicle control systems.
In accordance with the teachings of the present invention, a method and apparatus is provided for using a wireless telecommunications system such as a cellular phone system or a satellite communication system to provide data that replaces data generated by sensors physically or electrically coupled to the control systems of a vehicle. By replacing sensors with data transferred from a wireless communication system, hardware is eliminated and costs are reduced.
In the method and apparatus of the present invention, embedded mobile stations such as cellular phones, radio transceivers, or satellite communication devices are provided in a vehicle to communicate to a mobile application service center (MASC) such as utilized by the OnStar(copyright) service. The embedded mobile station is equipped with a global positioning system (GPS) receiver which can accurately predict the current position of the vehicle. The embedded mobile station is also connected to an automotive communication network such as IES-CAN, GMLAN, J1850, and J1939 to communicate with an engine control module (ECM), a powertrain control module (PCM), a transmission controller, a body computer, or other vehicle controller.
The GPS located in the embedded mobile station will provide location information to the MASC. The MASC will then query an information source such as the worldwide web/Internet for data or process variables to be used by a vehicle control system. The data or process variable in the preferred embodiment of the present invention include environmental or weather condition data corresponding of the location of the embedded station. In alternate embodiments of the present invention, a proprietary system of networked computers with environmental sensors may communicate with the MASC to provide environmental and weather condition data. The environmental data will then be transferred to the embedded mobile station, via the wireless communication system, and then to the vehicle systems such as the ECM and PCM. For example, humidity and temperature information may be transferred from the MASC to the embedded mobile station and then to the ECM to be used as a process variable in controlling the engine functions such as spark control and air/fuel ratio. The humidity and temperature data may further be used for environmental controls to ensure operator comfort.